Interview with John Palamarchuk Lead Cinematic Artist on God of War 3

At a recent preview event for God of War III we had a chance to talk with John Palamarchuk, Lead Cinematic Artist at Sony’s Santa Monica Studio. He talked about what players can expect from the game, how he got his start in the game industry and most importantly what he has on his dork shelf.

We were able to spend about 30 minutes with God of War III, and what we played was very impressive. Be sure to read our full preview of the game here.

God of War III hits store shelves on Tuesday March 16th.

Canadian Music Week Preview: Conferences

My column for this month is a special edition in honour of the upcoming Canadian Music Week: a five-day festival showcasing great Canadian music acts as well as conferences, lectures, award shows and films. It’s going to be a wild ride, and I want to show you which events will make you lean forward, flail your arms and smile.

CMW runs March 10-14, with events during the days and concerts/films in the evenings.

Canadian Music Week (and Fest – the music portion) require that you purchase passes to attend events (obviously). You can purchase weekly or daily passes. For more information, go here. However, if you want to go to just one concert, tickets can be purchased here.

This is the third part in a trio of articles in preparation for CMW. Today, we tackle the heavy conference schedule.

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TRON: Legacy Teaser Trailer

Disney has finally released the teaser trailer for Tron: Legacy, the long awaited sequel to the 1982 cult classic Tron.  The film stars recent Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain, Beau Garrett, and Michael Sheen.

I wrote up a detailed description of the teaser trailer a few weeks back and tried to give my best recap from memory. Needless to say, I was wrong with about 40% of it.  My biggest mistake was thinking Michael Sheen was the red suit: it’s actually CLU 2; a younger version of Kevin Flynn (Bridges). Director Joseph Kosinski recently did a Q & A session for Legacy and let slip two very interesting tibits: Jeff Bridges would be digitally de-aged to appear as his younger self in the movie. Bruce Boxleitner will be going through a similar process showing up as TRON himself.

What’s cooler than this teaser trailer?  The fact that it’s a just a teaser trailer and that we can expect an even longer one before the movie premieres this winter!

The trailer (which is available for download here) is currently playing in 3D with Alice in Wonderland.

TRON: Legacy hits theatres December 17, 2010.

Canadian Music Week Preview: Music

My column for this month is a special edition in honour of the upcoming Canadian Music Week: a five-day festival showcasing great Canadian music acts as well as conferences, lectures, award shows and films. It’s going to be a wild ride, and I want to show you which events will make you lean forward, flail your arms and smile.

CMW runs March 10-14, with events during the days and concerts/films in the evenings.

Canadian Music Week (and Fest – the music portion) require that you purchase passes to attend events (obviously). You can purchase weekly or daily passes. For more information, go here. However, if you want to go to just one concert, tickets can be purchased here.

This is the second part in a trio of articles in preparation for CMW. Today, I’ll point out a number of bands that are more than worth just checking out.

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Second Iron Man 2 Trailer

The second official trailer for Iron Man 2 has just hit the web. The film sees Tony Stark pitted against his competitors, his government and a new threat in the form of Ivan Vanko, a mysterious Russian with a vendetta against the Stark family.

The film is directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson.

Iron Man 2 hits theatres May 7th 2010.

God of War III Impressions

I recently had a chance to sit down and play God of War III, the third entry in the franchise from Sony’s Santa Monica Studio. After playing through the first 25 minutes or so, I only had one thought: Where the hell can this game possibly go from here?

Spoilers to follow.

God of War III starts where the second game left off. Kratos, the brutal Spartan warrior turned God of War, has been betrayed by the other Greek deities and stripped of his godly powers. Hell-bent on revenge, Kratos has allied himself with the mighty Titans, with their help he begins his assault on Mount Olympus the stronghold of the Gods.

Epic does not even begin to describe the opening of God of War III. The player is immediately thrust into the fray, riding on the back of Gaia, a massive 100-story tall Titan, as she scales Mount Olympus. As Gaia and the other Titans ascend the peak they face the full fury of the Olympian Gods defending their home. After dispatching several dozen minor minions, Kratos is confronted by none other than the god of the sea, Poseidon. The ensuing fight against Poseidon is a lengthy, multi-stage boss battle that constantly changes its orientation. The whole battle takes place on the aforementioned skyscraper-sized Titan as it lumbers up the mountain.

Part of what makes the visuals in God of War III especially impressive is the fact that 98% of the action is being rendered in real-time by the game engine. And as for the 2% of the game that isn’t in engine, the pre-rendered bits are seamlessly integrated with the rest of the game; you won’t even realize these moments are not being rendered in-engine. While battling smaller foes, you’ll observe the other battles going on in the background. You may become distracted while fighting skeletal warriors when you see Helios in his flaming chariot take down a Titan in the distance. Graphically, the game has come a long way from the 2009 E3 demo that became available in February. God of War III is easily one of the best looking games on the Playstation 3, and that’s saying something when you consider the cababilities of the hardware.

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Canadian Music Week Preview: Films

My column for this month is a special edition in honour of the upcoming Canadian Music Week: a five-day festival showcasing great Canadian music acts as well as conferences, lectures, award shows and films. It’s going to be a wild ride, and I want to show you which events will make you lean forward, flail your arms and smile.

Canadian Music Week (and Fest – the music portion) requires that you purchase passes to attend events (obviously). You can purchase weekly or daily passes. For more pass information, go here. However, if you want to go to just one concert, individual tickets can be purchased here.

CMW runs March 10-14, with events during the days and concerts/films in the evenings.

This is the first part in a trio of articles in preparation for CMW. Today, I’ll tell you which films I think are worth seeing.

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No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review

Travis Touchdown and the Rose Nasties. Sounds like a band.

Looking for a game where bloody assassin massacres and cutesy kitten playtime are equal priorities?

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is one of the biggest, and strangest, releases for the Nintendo Wii in the first quarter of 2010. Its predecessor No More Heroes won critical acclaim back in 2008 for its adult themes and stylish visuals, but the sequel hopes to match and exceed the former in both overall design and unit sales.

Let’s get one thing straight: Desperate Struggle is about as adult a game as you can find on the Wii System – a system generally designed with Family Game Night in mind.  Before you can even save for the first time the game features blood fountains, self-mutilation, sexually suggestive weaponry, and about half-a-dozen or so ‘questionable’ pieces of language not fit for print in this website (Okay, that’s a lie, but hey, there are kids around). Not a bad list. Only potty humour could make the opening any more visceral, and for that, well, just wait for the first save point. It won’t disappoint.

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DorkShelf.com One Year Anniversary!

Dork Shelf was conceived in a bar over beer and breakfast nearly one year ago. That’s right, drinking before noon led to what you see now. Inappropriate alcohol-consumption aside, we’ll be marking the actual anniversary of the site based on when the first post happened, which was in fact one year ago today.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my co-founders Jeff and Lucas and all of our contributors for the hard work they’ve put in over the past year. We’ve got something special here, be proud of it guys!

I’d also like to sincerely thank all of our readers, without you guys there would be no Dork Shelf. As always, we appreciate your readership and your comments!

Our second year at DorkShelf.com is going to be even better. Expect new features, new contributors, some events and that long awaited site redesign!

Stay tuned…

HBO picks up Game of Thrones for Series

First official photo from HBO's Game of Thrones - Click to Enlarge

The Hollywood Reporter and several other outlets are reporting that HBO has given the greenlight for a ten episode order of Game of Thrones. The TV series, which is based on George R.R. Martin’s extremely popular A Song of Ice and Fire novels, shot its pilot in the UK and Morocco late last year. Thrones stars Sean Bean (Goldeneye, Lord of the Rings) and Lena Headey (300, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as well as a whole host of recognizable actors, including Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent) and Jason Momoa (Stargate: Atlantis), who was recently cast as Conan in the new Conan the Barbarian film. The series is being produced by novelist and screenwriter David Benioff, the man behind 25th Hour, Troy and more recently Brothers.

Game of Thrones is set in the medieval world of Westeros, where rival houses vie for control of the Iron Throne that controls the seven kingdoms. The fictional medieval setting doesn’t necessarily mean high fantasy; there are no elves or orcs in Game of Thrones. The focus is less on the fantastical or magical and more on political machinations and brutal battles. Game of Thrones was pitched to HBO as “The Sopranos meets Lord of the Rings” and that’s not far off from what Thrones is.

I’m not a big fantasy guy, but I count the Song of Ice and Fire series amongst my favourite books. Television critics have been amazed by the unprecedented amount of hype that the pilot for Thrones has generated; based on that fact alone HBO was wise to pick up the series. Great writing combined with the wonderful cast they’ve assembled for the show and HBO production values makes Game of Thrones the must watch show of next year.

Game of Thrones is set to begin filming in June on track for a television debut in Winter 2011.

Tron: Legacy Trailer Description and Reaction

I was part of the lucky group of people who were invited to a sneak peek at the first theatrical trailer for Disney’s upcoming Tron: Legacy. The online viral marketing campaign for the film has kicked into high gear in the past two weeks. FlynnLives.com was the first site to pop up, which invited people to scour London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Toronto for clues that would reveal the name of a website where intrepid scavengers could register for the screening event.

Tron: Legacy follows Sam Flynn (Garret Hedlund), the son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who is looking into his father’s mysterious disappearance 25 years ago.  His search leads him to his father’s old haunts and ultimately transports him into the same cyber-universe that his father was once trapped in and now resides. Check out the full trailer description after the jump.

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The Crazies Review

Radha Mitchell in The Crazies

Breck Eisner’s The Crazies is a film that makes no bones about what it is. I had expected another run-of-the-mill horror film going in, but left the theatre pleasantly surprised. The Crazies is a tightly wound ball of suspense that will manage to unsettle and entertain you. The film is loosely based on George Romero’s 1973 movie of the same name; that film focused on both the civilian and military response to a deadly outbreak in a small town. Like Romero’s other work the film contained timely social commentary, in this case the film was a satire of the Vietnam War. The 2010 version of The Crazies is a little different, with the focus on squarely on the civilians, their dealings with the infected and the brutal military containment of the town. Now I’m sure you could draw out some kind of analogy relating to the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq, but if there is any underlying message it doesn’t feel nearly as ham-handed as some of Romero’s efforts. The Crazies is a rare example of a Hollywood horror film that is not only a good genre film, but a pretty decent flick period. Unlike many other horror films, you’ll feel invested in the movie and actually root for the characters to survive.

Spoilers to follow.

Welcome to picture perfect Ogden Marsh, an ordinary farming community in rural Iowa. This is a town where nothing really exciting ever happens, and that’s just the way the residents like it. Here we meet the local Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) and his pregnant wife Judy (Radha Mitchell), the town doctor. When a local man unexpectedly shows up to a high school baseball game wielding a shotgun, Sheriff Dutton is forced to shoot him in self-defense. In the wake of this incident, more townsfolk begin to acting strangely; what was another painfully normal Spring in Ogdgen Marsh slowly begins turning into a nightmare for the residents. As things spiral out of control, Dutton and his Deputy (Joe Anderson) discover that a military aircraft containing a biological weapon recently crashed into the reservoir, contaminating the local water supply. Before the two are able to warn the residents the military cordons off the town and begin rounding up the infected families with brutal efficiency.

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